To join the Heure&Montres watchmaking brand, you don't need to be a watchmaker: we provide our members with all the training they need to get started.
Synalia, the group of jewelers you have been managing since the end of April, is preparing to launch a new kiosk concept in shopping centers for the Heure&Montres watch brand: can you tell us more?
France's leading jewelry group with 430 outlets (including some 200 independent jewellers affiliated to its central purchasing group), Synalia develops 4 brands with complementary positioning: entry-level for Julien d'Orcel (160 stores, 3/4 of them in shopping malls), premium for Guilde des Orfèvres (32 outlets, including 3 in shopping centers), luxury for Cercle Vendôme (9 jewelry stores) and 100% watches for Heure & Montres (32 stores: 14 in city centers and 18 in shopping malls).
In early October, Heure & Montres will open its first 18 m² kiosk in the shopping mall of the Auchan hypermarket in Villebon 2, Essonne. A second example of this new point-of-sale concept is also due to open at the end of the year in the shopping mall of hypermarket Carrefour Cap Saran hypermarket, near Orléans.
What is your objective in launching this new concept? When do you plan to develop it on a large scale?
Our strategy is simple. It's all about meeting the need for profitability, because in shopping centers we're faced with a scissor effect between shrinking margins and rising rents. The kiosk is a clever, modular model that doesn't exist on the market, enabling us to enter shopping centers and establish ourselves at the heart of the flow. It's a long-term concept that's already attracting investors and landlords, although it's also aimed at existing members if they so wish.
The concept will be deployed as early as 2017, as our project is sufficiently mature: we have worked on it with lessors and with our associates. Some forty brands are already interested in being distributed there.
Who is this new concept intended for: existing members or new entrants?
Already, a number of Heure&Montres members located in city centers (on average 50 m²) have expressed interest in diversifying into the new kiosk format in shopping malls. However, even if the first investor attracted is close to thewatchmaking world, this concept is already attracting interest beyond the borders of the HBJO (Horlogerie-Bijouterie-Joaillerie-Orfèvrerie, editor's note). Indeed, several investors from outside the watchmaking world have already shown a keen interest in these kiosks.
What partner profiles are you looking for? How much do you need to invest?
How to reach us Heure&Montresyou don't need to be a watchmaker: we provide our members with all the training they need. This applies to all our brands, Guilde des Orfèvres tends to bring together professional jewelers, who are more attracted to this brand, but we also open up our recruitment to other profiles.
Independents who are closer to costume jewelry are more interested in Julien d'Orcelbut one of the cooperative's directors, a member of theJulien d'Orcel member since 2014, comes from the auditing sector. While Cercle Vendôme is aimed at jewelers who are well established in the local economy.
We are looking for partners who adhere to the values of the cooperative, and have an entrepreneurial profile, with the desire to create and become their own boss. Investment required to open a kiosk Heure&Montreskiosk of 18 m² represents €80,000 excluding stock, i.e. a lower budget than the €150,000 excluding stock required to set up a Heure&Montres "store of 50 m².
Article published on Tuesday, June 28, 2016 by Vincent Pompougnac on Franchise Magazine.
